Kristen McDonald is a Southern California native who attended UC Riverside for her Bachelor of Arts in English and a second in Sociology. She then moved to Texas, learned never to mention Oklahoma to a Longhorn, and earned her Juris Doctorate from Baylor University School of Law. Kristen maintains her Bar license in Texas as well as California.
While in Texas Kristen worked with the Baylor Law School Immigration Clinic and with the Waco branch of the Texas Office of the Attorney General Child Support Division.
Upon moving back home and becoming licensed in California, Kristen worked in consumer debt collection, where she was the lead attorney for her former firm’s accounts with Discover and OneMain, as well as assisting with CapitalOne and Citi. In this capacity she negotiated settlements with consumers and with opposing counsel, generated and reviewed legal filings, trained attorneys and staff, and appeared in court hearings throughout the state.
Expanding her horizons with a pivot to family law, Kristen moved to Bakersfield and the Kern County Department of Child Support Services, where she worked to establish, modify, and enforce child support orders. While there, Kristen spent a great deal of her time in court, handling contested and uncontested matters before the Title IV-D Commissioner as well as family law judges in addition to engaging in the meet and confer process with case participants and private attorneys. In the office Kristen presented internal and statewide trainings on topics such as the state guideline calculator, the Qualified Business Income Deduction, and analysis of Income and Expense Declarations.
In her free time Kristen enjoys science fiction, collecting shoes, and spending time with family. Her dog Booker enjoys car rides and luckily has no interest in shoes.
